April 7 in History: World Health Organization Founded, Empire State Building Begins, and Baghdad Falls

Discover what happened on April 7 in history, along with notable events that shaped global health, architecture, and modern conflict.

What Happened on April 7 in History?

Important events on this day include the founding of the World Health Organization, the start of construction on the Empire State Building, and the fall of Baghdad.

APRIL 7 – TODAY IN HISTORY:

1795 – France adopted the meter as the basic measure of length.

1827 – An English chemist, John Walker, sold the first friction match. He invited it a year earlier.

1864 – To raise money for charity, the first camel race in America was held in Sacramento, CA.

1888 – P.F. Collier published a weekly periodical for the first time under the name “Collier’”s.

1927 – The first long-distance TV transmission was sent from Washington, DC, to New York, NY. The audience saw an image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover.

1930 – The first steel columns were set for the Empire State Building.

1933 – Prohibition in the United States was repealed for beer of no more than 3.2% alcohol by weight, eight months before the ratification of the 21st Amendment.

1940 – Booker T. Washington became the first black to be pictured on a U.S. postage stamp.

1948 – The United Nations’ World Health Organization began operations.

1953 – IBM unveiled the IBM 701 Electronic Data Processing Machine. It was IBM’s first commercially available scientific computer.

1957 – In New York, NY, the last of city’s electric trolleys completed its final run from Queens to Manhattan.

1963 – At the age of 23, Jack Nicklaus became the youngest golfer to win the Green Jacket at the Masters Tournament.

1964 – IBM announced the System/360.

1966 – The U.S. recovered a hydrogen bomb it had lost off the coast of Spain.

1969 – The Supreme Court unanimously struck down laws prohibiting private possession of obscene material.

1970 – John Wayne won his first and only Oscar for his role in “True Grit.” He had been in over 200 films.

1971 – President Richard Nixon pledged to withdraw 100,000 soldiers from Vietnam by December.

1978 – In Grand Rapids, MI, John Ball Park Zoo’s only elephant, Zooella, died.

1978 – Development of the neutron bomb was cancelled by President Jimmy Carter.

1982 – It was cold! Temperatures dropped to near zero around the Great Lakes as arctic high pressure moved into the area. Lansing fell to -2° for their latest sub-zero temperature on record. Muskegon dropped down to 1° and Grand Rapids saw a low of 3° for the coldest April temperatures on record.

1983 – Specialist Story Musgrave and Don Peterson made the first Space Shuttle spacewalk.

1983 – The Chinese government canceled all remaining sports and cultural exchanges with the U.S. for 1983.

1984 – Jack Morris threw a no hitter in a 4-0 shutout of Chicago. He was only the fourth Detroit Tiger to do so. It was the first time it had happened since 1958.

1990 – At Farm Aid IV, Elton John performed “Candle in the Wind” for Ryan White. White, a young boy with AIDS, died later the same day.

1990 – John Poindexter was found guilty of five counts at his Iran-Contra trial. The convictions were later reversed on appeal.

1990 – At Cincinnati, OH’s Contemporary Arts Center a display of Robert Mapplethorpe’s photographs went on display. On the same day the center and its director were indicted on obscenity charges. The charges resulted in acquittal.

1993 – The movie “The Sandlot” premiered in theaters.

1998 – George Michael was arrested in a public restroom in Beverly Hills, CA for lewd conduct. He was sentenced to community service for the incident.

1998 – Mary Bono, the widow of Sonny Bono, won a special election to serve out the remainder of her husband’s Congressional term.

2000 – President Bill Clinton signed the Senior Citizens Freedom to Work Act of 2000. The bill reversed a Depression-era law and allows older citizens to earn money without losing Social Security retirement benefits.

2001 – The Mars Odyssey was launched.

2003 – U.S. troops captured Baghdad. Saddam Hussein’s regime fell two days later.

2006 – Meredith Viera confirmed she was leaving ABC’s “The View” to replace Katie Couric on “Today”.

2008 – More than 10 years after Princess Diana and her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, died in a car wreck in Paris, a jury in London concluded that the two were killed by a combination of the “grossly negligent driving” of their chauffeur and the paparazzi pursuing their car.

2008 – Kathie Lee Gifford returned to TV, as co-host of the fourth hour of the “Today” show.

2016 – The final episode of the final season of TV’s “American Idol” aired on FOX.

2016 – The longest-ever python was captured in Malaysia. The snake was 26 feet long.

2021 – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant had become the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the United States.

2021 – Action Comics #1, which introduced Superman for the first time, sold at auction. It brought in a recording-breaking price of $3.25 million.

2022 – Ketanji Brown Jackson becomes the first black female justice when she was confirmed for the Supreme Court of the United States.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS ON APRIL 7:

Bobby Bare – 91 years old (1935) – Singer-songwriter and guitarist

Jerry Brown – 88 years old (1938) – Lawyer and politician, 34th and 39th Governor of California

Iris Johansen – 88 years old (1938) – Author

Francis Ford Coppola – 87 years old (1939) – Director, producer, and screenwriter

James Di Pasquale – 85 years old (1941) – Composer

Bill Stoneman – 82 years old (1944) – Baseball player and manager

Marilyn Friedman – 81 years old (1945) – Philosopher and academic

Zaid Abdul-Aziz – 80 years old (1946) – Basketball player

Robert Metcalfe – 80 years old (1946) – Engineer and entrepreneur

Patricia Bennett – 79 years old (1947) – Singer

John Oates – 78 years old (1948) – Singer-songwriter guitarist, and producer

Mitch Daniels – 77 years old (1949) – Academic and politician, 49th Governor of Indiana

Brian J. Doyle – 76 years old (1950) – Press secretary

Neil Folberg – 76 years old (1950) – American-Israeli photographer

Janis Ian – 75 years old (1951) – Singer-songwriter and guitarist

Jane Frederick – 74 years old (1952) – Hurdler and heptathlete

Dennis Hayden – 74 years old (1952) – Actor

Santa Barraza – 73 years old (1953) – Mixed media artist

Tony Dorsett – 72 years old (1954) – Football player

Gregg Jarrett – 71 years old (1955) – Lawyer and journalist

Christopher Darden – 70 years old (1956) – Lawyer and author

Brian Haner – 68 years old (1958) – Singer-songwriter and guitarist

Buster Douglas – 66 years old (1960) – Boxer and actor

Thurl Bailey – 65 years old (1961) – Basketball player and actor

Andrew Hampsten – 64 years old (1962) – Cyclist

Dave Johnson – 63 years old (1963) – Decathlete and educator

Jace Alexander – 62 years old (1964) – Actor and director

Bill Bellamy – 61 years old (1965) – Comedian, actor, and producer

Jennifer Lynch – 58 years old (1968) – Actress, director, producer, and screenwriter

Ricky Watters – 57 years old (1969) – Football player

Brett Tomko – 53 years old (1973) – Baseball player

Ronde Barber – 51 years old (1975) – Football player and sportscaster

Tiki Barber – 51 years old (1975) – Football player and journalist

Ronnie Belliard – 51 years old (1975) – Baseball player

John Cooper – 51 years old (1975) – Singer-songwriter and bass player

Kevin Alejandro – 50 years old (1976) – Actor and producer

Aaron Lohr – 50 years old (1976) – Actor

Barbara Jane Reams – 50 years old (1976) – Actress

Lilia Osterloh – 48 years old (1978) – Tennis player

Adrián Beltré – 47 years old (1979) – Dominican-American baseball player

Patrick Crayton – 47 years old (1979) – Football player

Danny Sandoval – 47 years old (1979) – Venezuelan-American baseball player

Vanessa Olivarez – 45 years old (1981) – Singer-songwriter, and actress

Sonjay Dutt – 44 years old (1982) – Wrestler

Brooke Brodack – 40 years old (1986) – Comedian

Jamar Smith – 39 years old (1987) – Football player

Anna Bogomazova – 36 years old (1990) – Russian-American kick-boxer, martial artist, and wrestler

Josh Hader – 32 years old (1994) – Baseball player

Emerson Hyndman – 30 years old (1996) – International soccer player

DAYS OF THE YEAR FOR APRIL 7:

For additional information check out websites like: www.on-this-day.com, www.born-today.com, www.famousbirthdays.com, www.daysoftheyear.com, and www.nationaldaycalendar.com.